By Major Itamar Ben David Almost one year since October 7, and here are some of my thoughts and reflections about this passing year. I argue that the Jewish experience in the last year, from October 7, 2023, to this day, one year later - encapsulates the entire modern Jewish experience of the previous 100 years. Why do I say that, and what is the reason for it all? The Israelis experienced the worst massacre of Jews in one day since the Holocaust on October 7. The horrific details of this massacre and the level of barbarity of the Palestinian Gazan terrorists who stormed Jewish communities in the south are well known by now to anyone who isn’t interested in covering the truth. But the combination of the terrorist’s clear genocidal intentions and the complete silent denial and blaming the victim game that was played afterward by both the terrorists who filmed the massacre and the international community – is only similar to the Holocaust. During the Holocaust, Nazi Germans denied a massacre was taking place, the role of other European nations in it, and the Western bystanders who refused to believe the evidence present- ed to them or act based on it. Everyone wanted the Jews to die silently. Israel is going through what will probably be the longest war in its history – it will probably be even longer than the Independence War of 1948 which lasted between November 30th, 1947, and the summer of 1949. Some called it “The Second Independence War” early on in the war. Israel is facing a multifront war, primarily Gaza and Lebanon – but also the West Bank, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran. I would add to it the relentless psychological warfare waged against us in the Israeli Media, Foreign Media, and social media. Another front is the Jews of the Diaspora – that are threatened more than at any other time before, with ugly Jew-Hatred acts and calls we only witnessed in Nazi Germany. During this year, we experienced both multi-front wars backed by regional and global powers of the kind of 1948, 1967, and 1973 and the long wars of attrition by state actors and terror groups like the Fidayun and the different Palestinian terror groups such as Fatah and the leftist groups supported by the Soviet Union. Israel is also experiencing the same apathy to the hostage situation in Gaza as the one we experienced postWW2. After WW2, the Zionist movement asked Britain to allow the 250,000 displaced holocaust survivors to immigrate to Israel. Britain said no because they didn’t want to upset the Arabs. In the same way – in the name of de-escalation, in the name of the US elections, in the name of many other excuses – Biden and his administration didn’t put pressure on the terrorists of Gaza to release the hostages. They were hyper-focused on the humanitarian aid to everyone – but not on the Israeli hostages. This apathy by a Western power to the fate of Jews and Israelis, who are the actual victims of this war, and [not taking action] in order not to upset the Arabs or the Muslims is appalling. Just like the holocaust survivors – the Israeli Hostages are victims of the terrorists, and they are also victims of the Western lack of moral clarity that led the West to apply pressure on Israel instead of the terrorists. During August and September – Israel started a military operation in the West Bank as the threat from the Jihadists was rising to the point that a second October 7 from the West Bank became a realistic scenario. It reminded many of the Intifadas, especially the second one, and the way Israel invaded the Palestinian cities in 2002 to oppress the terror groups. The Israelis noted in September 2023 – 30 years to the infamous “Oslo Accords,” and just like Israel was constantly pressured during these 30 years to compromise its national security for the delusions of the West - now also we are subjected to everlasting hypocrisy, triple standard, eye-rolling, and pressure of the international community to stop fighting for our national security. And who is calling for it? the so-called “friendly” countries such as the US and EU and the entirely hostile “famously unbiased” organizations such as the UN and its many branches (ICC, ICJ, RED CROSS, UNRWA and more). In the past two weeks, Israel has experienced a new 1967-style moment – with a series of blows to our enemy in the north – Hezbollah. This Iran backed terror organization was growing and threatening Israel to such a degree many in Israel and in the world thought it would be impossible to deal with without a catastrophic outcome for Israel itself. The past two weeks proved - without leaving a doubt – Israel crushed Hezbollah by eliminating its entire leadership and military commanders and by showing its complete dominance and penetration into this terror organization. The IDF prepared itself for this war for two decades – and now the world can see it. Yet a glowing military victory isn’t enough. The Jihad won’t stop because of the loss of some leaders and tactical wins. Even if it will take a few years – they will come back. So where do we go next? My answer is divided into two: First, we need to ask ourselves - Why did everything happen? How come this year encapsulates the modern Jewish history of the past 100 years? I am a person of faith – but even for Jewish non-believers, the answer is the same: The Jewish people need to be on the same page. It doesn’t matter whether you live in Israel or overseas, it doesn’t matter if you joined the IDF or not, it doesn’t matter if you are young or old – now everyone knows exactly what is the Jewish condition. We are back in our sov- ereign homeland, we are still vulnerable, we are alone to defend ourselves – no one is coming to rescue us, and thank God - we have each other. This year taught us that we can overcome Jew-Hatred Genocidal massacres, an apathetic world to our hostages, multi-front war, hostile psychological warfare, terror and wars of attrition, inter- national pressure, and triple standards, hostility from so-called “friends and allies” and still be victorious. Now, every Jew in the world over the age of 5 can say – I know what the Jewish history looks like; I lived through it, and I know I can win. This will empower the next five generations of Jews into the 21st century. The second part of my answer is—now that every Jew in the world has the same dramatic lived experience— what do we do with it? Modern Israel was estab- lished for two purposes, as defined by the fathers of the Zionist movement: to shelter the Jews of the world and become a light to the nations, and to become the epicenter of the world and for every- one who wants to learn and embrace godly values and morality inspired by Isaiah 2 and Zechariah 14. Israel will have to show the world why it has all the answers for the world’s challenges in the 21st century. Israel will have to speak up and explain why it is always on the top 10 of the happiest countries in the world, how come our life expectancy is among the highest in the world, why this is the only Western country with positive birthrates, why it has so much ingenuity that enabled Israel to build such a vibrant and influential economy and most important – what answers Israel has to the political, cultural and military struggle that will define the next few decades - primarily Islamic Jihadism. If, at the end of this war, Israel doesn’t prove to both Muslims and Non-Muslims that the way of the Jihad is a dead end that will primarily destroy the Muslim societies from which it came – this war will be a missed opportunity. Israel has to do the impossible: to defeat the Jihad ac- cording to its terms, namely, loss of territories in Gaza and Lebanon (Dar AL-Islam), severe damage to the believers (Dhu’uf Al-Mu’minin) in life and property, and broad scholastic agreement among the Muslim elite that this war was a net loss for the interest of the Islamic nation (Masla- hat Al-Uma). Israel has to do all that while somehow dealing with a relentless attack from its so-called Western “friends and allies” who hate to see Israel do this for a spiritual reason. This triumph will retrospectively prove that the morality and ethics of the Western Wars since WW2 were entirely upside down. It will prove that every single war the West fought was inhumane and unjust because it didn’t achieve its goal of destroying evil. If you go out to war without promoting long-term peace and justice – you are evil. Israel will have to deal with these two fronts and prevail. I know Israel will make it happen; I know many Jews will join the fight; I know it because the truth is – we have no other choice: if Jihadism wins – we will not survive. We must win, crush the Jihad, and show other countries – both Western and Muslim countries - the path to victory. On the eve of Rosh Hashana 5785 I’m saying to my fellow Jews in Israel and around the world - it’s time to recognize our role today and unite. Shana Tova. Editor’s Note: Shana Tova is the greeting Jews give one another on Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year, a time to reflect and make amends for the year before. The shofar, a ram’s horn, is blown every weekday morning during the month of Elul, which begins the high holiday season. Rosh Hashanah 2024 begins before sundown on Wednesday, Oct. 2, and ends after nightfall on Friday, Oct. 4. A week later, the High Holidays culminate in Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Yom Kippur 2024 begins before sundown on Friday, October 11, and ends after nightfall on Shabbat, October 12. Then the holidays of Sukkot and Simchat Torah bring the annual fall holiday season to a joyous conclusion. The horrific massacre of October 7 occurred on Simchat Torah. If you, our readers, have any questions for Major Ben David about the war or how the war affects Israelis and the perspective Judaism takes on the war, please send them to the Dayton Leader at jhdaytonleader@gmail. com throughout the month of October. To begin, I’ve asked Ben David the question: “Israel is the defensive line against terrorism, as illustrated by the picture we ran last week -what will happen to the West, and America, if that line falls. And more specif- ically, what will happen to Iowa’s agriculture?” His answer was: “Israel is standing in the heart of the Muslim world between what is called the Maghreb, the west of the Muslim world, in north Africa, and the Mashreq, the east of the Muslim world. To the north of us are all Muslim coun- tries, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. To the west is the sea and just Little Cypress. Other than that - all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, it’s all Mus- lim areas. From Israel to the east - all Muslim areas until you get to India. to the south - Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, and more. Geographically speaking - we aren’t a front, we are an enclave. Places like Greece, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe are more a Christian area in front of a Muslim area. “Take these two nations, the Jews and the Muslims (we actually refer to ourselves as nations) and you realize that our region is the Abrahamic region, where today two of his children— Isaac and Ishmael—are struggling. The outcome of this struggle will be very consequential. because as we speak - Israel has shown the world for more than a century that you can fight Jihad and not only survive but thrive. Israel shows that you can hold some core democratic values but not all of them - in the face of Jihad. Jihad doesn’t allow you to be the ideal democratic country (assuming such a country exists). “If this example of Israel falls militarily - I doubt that any other country, including the US, will manage to stand the relentless psychological war that Jihad wages. Jihad uses the values and the mentality of the West such as individualism, human rights, democratic values, freedom of speech, and more - and turns it against the Western countries. It forces them to capitulate without a fight as it takes over more and more of the ways of life of a given country - and forces Muslims and non-Muslims alike to agree to these capitulations. “Israel shows that yes - we want to think of ourselves as a part of the West - but that feeling of physical threat is something the West starts to feel in the streets but not on its border - unless you re- alize what is happening in the southern border of the US. I can say - that the infrastruc- ture for an October 7-style attack on the southern border of the US has already been laid. Now it’s all a question of timing this attack. “And yes - they will drive farmers out of this border in order to create a chaotic no man’s land where Jihad and drug cartels thrive.”
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